Baidu Slumps as Chinese Regulators Probe After Student Death
- Online, industry and health regulators form investigative team
- Questions about placement of paid ads from health companies
The Baidu Inc. headquarters in Beijing.
Photographer: Tomohiro Ohsumi/BloombergThis article is for subscribers only.
Shares in Baidu Inc. tumbled Monday on news that Chinese regulators have begun an investigation into the search giant’s practices of placing paid content after a university student’s death was linked to his use of the site to seek treatment.
A team of investigators from the Cyberspace Administration of China, the national health commission and the top industry regulator will probe Baidu’s compliance with online regulations, the administration said in a statement on its website. The U.S.-traded stock fell 7.9 percent to $178.91. It was the second-worst performance in the Bloomberg China-U.S. Equity Index, which fell about 1 percent.